C MFNT R F S M E

ED 023 304By -Bystrom, JohnFederal -State Relationships.Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis. Inter -Institutional Television.Pub Date Dec 66Note -43p.; Paper prepared for The Feasibility Study of Inter -Institutional Television, University of Minnesota,

Minneapolis.EDRS Price MF HC -$225Descriptors -Broadcast Industry, Communication Satellites, Educational Facilities, *Educational Radio,

*Educational Television, Facility Expansion, Federal Programs, *federal State Relationship, InservicePrograms, Interagency Cooperation, Interagency Coordination, Interinstitutional Cooperation, Media Research,

Networks, Public Teleyision, Research Projects, *State Federal Aid, *State Federal SupportIdentifiers -FCC, Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission in 1938 set aside AM radio assignmentsfor future educational stations. In the 1960's it made additional assignments foreducation: long-range FM radio, multiplex sub-carrier channels; and UHF-, VHF, andInstructional Television Fixed Service channels for statewide ETV broadcast service.Such networks aid the industry of a state and provide inservice training, administrativediscourse, and educational and cultural opportunities. The National Defense EducationAct (1958, Title VII) initiated federal support for research to measure theeffectiveness of television as an instructional medium for training of ETV personnel.

The Educational Television Facilities Act (1962), Higher Education Act (1965), andElementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) supplied federal funds to ETVstations for programing. Today 124 educational television stations broadcastnoncommercial programs in 38 states. Federal money supports state and local ETVprograms designed to improve professional training and media techniques. Theinterdependence of ETV and computer facilities promises electronic backbone systems

in statewide communications. (TI)

EM 006 827

Federal-State Relationships

John Bystrom

Assistant to the SecretaryFor Educational Television

Department of Health,Education and Welfare

Washington, D.C.

Prepared for the Feasibility Study of Inter-Institutional Television University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE

OFFICE OF EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE

PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS

STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION

POSITION OR POLICY.

Federal-State Relationships.

Prepared for Feasibility Study of

Inter-Institutional TelevisionUniversity of MinnesotaMinneapolis, Minnesota

Materials were prepared at therequest of the Statewide AdvisoryCommittee and represent the personalviews of the author rather than the

Federal agency.

John BystromAssistant to the Under Secretary

for Educational TelevisionDepartment of Health, Education

and WelfareWashington, D. C.December, 1966

Federal-State RelationshipsEducational Television Broadcasting

For over a decade educational television (ETV) broadcasting has

grown steadily in facilities and services. Through tests and demonstra-

tions television's effectiveness in education is better understood as

are the implications of these experiences for the United States and the

World.

President Johnson in his Pacific trip viewed the television cen-

tered education system in American Samoa, still less than three years

old. On his return to Washington he announced his intention to appoint

a committee to study how the benefits of educational television broad-

casting could be extended to the underdeveloped countries of the world.

A few months ago the Ford Foundation created a stir by advocating

finance of a domestic communication satellite project which would pro-

vide for television links to noncommercial television stations, elemen-

tary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education. The

satellite transmission services were to be financed from savings gained

in providing station interconnection servites for the three commercial

1/networks. -- For most people the future had not seemed that close.

1/ The Ford Foundation proposes four satellites each containing 12 tele-

vision channels. One satellite would serve each time zone. In each

zone there would be 11 television channels, six to be used for the

network requirements of the three commercial networks, three for pri-

mary and secondary school instruction, one for university level in-

struction, and one for noncommercial cultural network programs. The

plan assumes 750 receiving locations, one at each broadcast station

using the system and would provide for 20 major sending locations

and 525 mobile or special sending locations. Capital cost is esti-

mated at $80 million and operating cost (for the transmission system

not for program production) is estimated at $19 million. An expan-

sion inservice is projected which would provide for an increase inprimary-secondary school channels from three to seven with two uni-

versity channels rather than one.

2

In Boston, the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, a

blue ribbon group headed by Dr. James Killian, former science advisor to

President Eisenhower and head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

was completing a study of educational television broadcasting and prepar-

ing recommendations which promised to have major impact on the scene.

On the industrial front, there have been a ?ash of mergers and pur-

chases over the last eighteen.months through which major corporations in

the field of communications have brought together the diverse industrial

and marketing capabilities required to compete in an educational world

where moving images, sounds, and the printed page will be planned and

developed together to achieve educational objectives, heretofore beyond

our capacity.

While we have only begun to understand how to utilize television

for education, these actions along with others indicate the great weight

accorded television as a force for human development. Television can

be used for a great range of organized endeavors. It is capable of many

kinds of services and cuts across many established institutional lines.

It does not, therefore, fall easily into established patterns of thought.

Television, when used for other than commercial broadcasting purposes,

has an identity problem.

Most Americans use the term "television" to refer to commercial

television broadcasting--entertainment programs, interspersed with adver-

tising messages, and created for broadcast to mass audiences. For most,

ETV represents an alternative, cultural entertainment and public infor-

mation programs without advertising. Probably, the experience of the

community with television entertainment has slowed innovation in the

use of television for purposes of work.

Nevertheless, television is being used increasingly to do tasks

better. Wherever we need to see what cannot be seen, television tech-

nology may have utility.

The methods by which images and sound are delivered are many, rang-

ing from the great television broadcast station to the small cartridge

playback unit carried by the teacher, health professional or agricultural

extension agent.

The lens of a television camera may be extended into the body and

a view provided for consulting physicians of the surface of an organ

deep within. In the not far distant future it will be possible to trans-

mit that view between continents by satellite.

Today, some of the most time-consuming travel is to nearby towns.

We can travel in comfort to Europe in less time than it may take to

travel in discomfort to locations within a State. Through State tele-

vision systems, two-way radio and other techniques, time and distance

can disappear. Costly and time-consuming workshops are supplemented as

information is brought to professionals rather than requiring them to

come to central locations. Even within limited areas, television's

ability to extend sight is highly desirable. Law enforcement officers

in New York City use television to bring the police lineup to the pre-

cinct station rather than have officers go to the lineup. Students at

far corners of a room may observe a slide beneath the microsqope lens

as well or better than those near the demonstration table. Television

technology is relevant to any human endeavor which can benefit by the

communication of images and sounds over distances.

For purposes of planning it is useful to divide consideration of

television transmission systems into two types, broadcast or public sys-

tems and institutional or private systems. Broadcast television provides

4

a signal over broad areas and is picked up by easily available, moder-

ately priced receivers. The institutional systems require special,

planned receiving locations, usually relatively costly. There is limited

access to the TV signal which is directed or controlled and not generally

available to the public.

The subject of this paper is broadcasting. Our principal concern

will be noncommercial television, although noncommercial radio broadcast-

ing will be covered as well.

Major television transmission systems, either institutional or

broadcast, require substantial investments. The opportunity for educa-

tional broadcast systems furthermore, is limited by availability of

radio spectrum space. States can at best have only two noncommercial

educational broadcast channels, and it is more likely that only one

state-wide broadcast service is possible.

Both its cost and the difficult problems of organization.require

that the television broadcast system receive careful planning and phased

development. A substantial period for growth is necessary before a

television system can begin to fulfill its potential for service. The

physical system must exist before it can be used. Until it is avail-

able institutions and agencies do not organize to use it. Once used, a

learning period is needed for creative application. To build television

into the established program of a public service agency requires time

and long-range planning. Nevertheless, noncommercial broadcast facili-

ties are growing each year, and the use of these facilities for health,

education, and community services is growing also.

The purpose of this paper is to examine noncommercial broedcast

services from the viewpoint of a State seeking to improve the condition

5

of life for its citizens through quality education, economic develop-

ment, and efficient and effective public services.

After describing the current status of noncommercial broadcast

services, the partnership role of the Federal government will be exam-

ined followed by a discussion of embryonic State efforts to plan for

the total communication systems development, in which educational tele-

vision broadcasting has a significant role.

Current Status of Noncommercial Broadcasting

Today there are 124 educational television (ETV) broadcast stations

operating in 38 States. Some 28 additional stations are under construc-

tion and within a year it is expected that only 3 States will be with-

out an ETV broadcast station--Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming. Currently,

ETV is available to areas with potential home audience in execss of

140 million people. (At the same time that educational television broad-

casting is expanding, closed-circuit television systems are being in7

stalled in increasing numbers. These vary in size from systems involv-

ing the wiring of a few rooms for television to Statewide systems involv7

ing the interconnection of the public school system for the reception of

televised instruction.)

Licensing and control of the 124 noncommercial educational tele-

vision broadcast stations are divided almost equally among public schools,

universities, State agencies, and non-profit community corporations.

Station WNYC-TV in New York City is the single noncommercial station

licensed to a municipality.

In practice educational television broadcasting performs a variety

of functions. Stations program for in-school instruction, college course

6

work, continuing education for professionals, job training, personal

improvement, community development, general cultural entertainment and

public affairs information.

It is estimated that one-third of ETV programing nationally is

devoted to in-school instruction. Science and mathematics lead among

subjects broadcast, taking up one-third of the elementary and secondary

broadcast schedule, with social science, foreign languages, English

language, music, art, and literature following in that order.

Approximately one-seventh of educational broadcasting is taken up

by college level instruction, one-half of this in the evening. Since it

brings programs into the home or place of work, ETV can be a valuable

asset to adult extension services. It was recently reported that 169

inmates of Illinois State Penitentary were students in Chicago's TV

Junior College, each taking from 15 to 19 semester hours of educational

television.

Continuing education for professionals and various forms of job

training represent growing areas of programing. Instruction is designed

to assist a wide range of occupations including doctors, nurses, busi-

ness managers, forenen and lawyers. Job training by television is expand-

ing much of it initiated by private industry. The American Management

Association provides management training through nine major ETV stations,

for example.

Some programs serve administrative purposes. One of the principal

functions of New York's WNYC is dissemination of information and training

to public employees and to regulated occupations such as the staff of

privately operated nursing homes. Broadcast television is used by the

A

7

departments of police, fire, hospitals, health, and education, to pro-

vide both internal administrative communication and information to the

residents of New York City.

Cultural and public information programs dominate the evening broad-

cast schedule. About one-half of these programs are provided by National

Educational Television (NET), the national network of ETV stations. In

addition, the cultural programs of regional and State networks, and

university production centers are widely used. Motion pictures are being

telecast by some stations as are cultural programs produced for commer-

cial stations. Foreign television programs are being repeated through

international agreements. Public informaion programing is continuing

to expand.

The ETV program is to be judged by the value to the community of

the change in behavior accomplished, not by numbers of viewers. The

4,000 nurses receiving in-service training in a major metropolitan area

is not large by commercial television standards. However, when the

value to society of the knowledge gained is considered, the size of the

audience is secondary. The commercial television station cannot operate

successfully without large audiences. The mass audience, attracted

through the medium of entertainment, is the goal of the commercial tele-

vision station. Its function is to crete mass markets for mass produc-

tion. Educational television stations however are able to operate and

yet distribute materials of interest to small audiences.

Inherently noncommercial radio stations represent a versatile and

low cost method for providing knowledge in the home, car, and place of

work.

8

In January 1921, WHA, of the University of Wisconsin, the first

noncommercial radio station, began operating. By 1925, 171 of the 571

stations on the air were operated by educational institutions. Only

38 stations, by 1937, had been able to survive the pressures of the

depression and the radio education movement seemed near an end. Today,

however, there are 312 educational radio stations in operation. Only

20 are AM stations with the remainder FM stations. Nearly two-thirds of

the FM educational stations are licensed to colleges and universities,

about one-fourth to local school districts, and the remainder to State

agencies, high schools and non-profit educational organizations. Unlike

ETV broadcasting, Federal assistance in the construction of facilities

is not available. Nevertheless, half of the stations have been acti-

vated in the last decade.

It is very important to note that almost one-half of the educational

radio stations are of the very low power 10-watt variety which have a

range of not more than 2 to 5 miles, typically. The low cost 10-watt

stations are for the most part incapable of providing for other than

the institutional needs of the sponsoring schools and colleges.

With some notable exceptions, noncommercial radio has not adjusted

to technical or social change. Nevertheless, because of technical assets,

noncommercial radio broadcasting appears to be capable of great service

in meeting community needs. It provides an unusually low cost channel

to the home. The initial activation of a substantial FM station, serv-

ing distances 50 to 75 miles costs on the average less than one-twelfth

that of a television station serving an equal distance. Annual operat-

ing costs are in the same ratio. Nationwide coverage by noncommercial

a

9

radio broadcasting can be provided for approximately 25 million, while

educational television nationwide will require over ten times that amount.

Radio is conveniently programed and easily used by administrators and

agencies seeking broadcast services into the home. The interconnection

of stations costs a fraction of the amount required for television inter-

connection. Inexpensive battery operated transistorized receivers are

widely distributed and can be made available for special purposes.

Recent improvements in technology add to radio's potential.

A Statewide network of multiplexed noncommercial broadcast stations

could be utilized for many social purposes. For this reason, the Federal

Communications Commission is rethinking its current policy for licens-

ing educational radio stations. This kihe. of comprehensive development

will not be seen in most States until some t4me in the future, however,

and then only under favorable circumstance. For the moment, noncommer-

cial radio must be regarded an important and useful medium in some loca-

tions, but being utilized at far short of its potential for community

service in most locations.

Federal Policy and the Radio Spectrum

By the late twenties, the unregulated use of the liMited radio

spectrum had produced only chaos and licensing procedures were established.

Since 1934, the Federal Communications Commission has exercised control

over that part of the spectrum available for general public use. In its

policies toward authorized users the Commission has shaped the character

of educational broadcasting services today. It has sought, over the

years, to encourage effective use of radio and television broadcasting

10

frequencies by educational institutions. Repeatedly, the Commission has

acted to withhold from commercial development radio and television assign-

ments, reserving them for education.

In 1938, the Federal Communications Commission set aside certain

high frequency AM radio assignments for future educational stations.

As part of a general adjustment of the spectrum in 1945, educators were

shifted to space in the new FM radio section. Seeking to encourage

development the Federal Communications Commission in 1948 authorized

low powered operation for educators, the 10-watt station. Thus schools

and colleges were able to go into radio broadcasting for a small invest-

ment, as low as $2500. It was hoped that once started these small opera-

tions would grow, mature and become useful to the community as a whole.

However) experience has been such as to raise a question as to the

effectiveness of this policy. 2/ An educational radio service dominated

by stations broadcasting only a few miles and with limited reources

behind them--often, in fact, operated entirely by unpaid students--was

not a medium that could be utilized to perform the varied services

required by the general public. The effect has been to provide an insti-

tutional service in most cases, with limited utility even for the col-

leges and universities who form the major body of licensees.

2/ The Federal Communications Commission has stated (Notice of Inquiry,

Docket No. 14185): "These stations 0.70 watts or les] present cer-tain problems. Operation with such limited power does not usuallyrepresent an efficient use of scarce spectrum space, since coverageis often limited to a few miles. In addition, while these stationsare often high quality operations, presenting programing consistentwith the educational purpose for which the noncommercial educationalFM band is designed, in numerous instances it appears that they arereally light entertainment media, similar to many commercial radiostations only without commercials."

In November 1966, the Commission presented for public discussion a

proposal which would modify the earlier policy. Basically it was pro-

posed to establish a table of radio assignments reserved for noncommer-

cial stations which would provide for sufficient long-range FM stations

to allow a Statewide radio service in every State. Additional FM radio

station assignments in the major urban areas are also assured under the

proposal. Thus in areas of heavy population more than one educational

FM station could be established, making possible a choice of educational

programs especially designed for the great diversity of cultural, eco-

nomic, or educational groups in the area. This preliminary action by

the FCC has already excited the planning of Statewide noncommercial sys-

tems in a number of States.

When television appeared it was recognized by the Commission from

the experience with radio that non-profit educational groups would be

slower in utilizing the new medium than would profit making commercial

interests. Therefore, in 1952 certain channels were withheld from com-

mercial development and reserved for use by educational institutions.

Television receivers shipped in interitate commerce after April 30,

1964, are required to provide for the reception of all television chan-

nels--14 through 83 in the ultra high frequency range (UHF) as well as

2 through 13 in the very higl, frequence range (VHF) to which almost all

sets operating at the time were limited. Most channels resexved for

education by the FCC are in the UHF range. Prior to the all-channel

requirement, television sets manufactured to receive only the VHF range

needed a special adapter to permit UHF reception. This discouraged

widespread UHF reception capability and neither educational nor commer-

cial interests used UHF channels to any extent. Today, with the distri-

bution of all channel receivers growing, there is clear evidence of

UHF development.

12

In June 1965, the Federal Communications Commission took action to

more than double the channels reserved for education. A total of 508

UHF channels and 102 VHF channels were reserved. The Commission has

stated that the reserved ETV channels assured opportunity for a State-

wide ETV broadcast service in each State with the opportunity for two

ETV channels in each of the 45 major cities. Thus a sound basis is pro-

vided for Statewide coverage in all States.

Commission policy has also encouraged the development of essentially

private multiple channel services for institutional use.

After educational institutions use television for a time the desire

often develops for simultaneous television instruction in more than one

subject to' more than one age group. It is impossible to meet these

needs with broadcast stations. To offset the channel limitation, the

Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) was made available.

Popularly referred to as the "2500 megacycle service" the system is

available only to educational institutions. Currently, a licensee may

be permitted to have up to 5 channels of the 31 channels available in

any given area. Such a licensee may, therefore, distribute five ETV

programs simultaneously. Programs are transmitted point-to-point, from

a production center to a specific number of fixed receiving installa-

tions. With this service several school buildings within a limited area

may be linked together. However, the general public cannot receive the

programs on standard home receivers. This private character is both the

strength and weakness of the service. FCC engineers point out that ITFS

is an institutional system and not designed to take the place of the

broadcast station. It is expected that communities with sufficiently

13

large populations will be served eventually by both broadcast stations

and by ITFS. The FCC is experiencing a strong demand for licenses from

the Northeastern seaboard and other major urban areas, particularly from

private schools.

Technological advances have made similar private institutional ser-

vices available by FM radio. The FCC permits multiplex operation of FM

stations. An important resource for public services is thus provided.

The noncommercial FM radio station using multiplexing has the possibility

of providing a broadcast signal to homes while programing perhaps as

much as four additional services simultaneously to sets adjusted to

receive the signals of the multiplex sub-carrier channels. While music

may be broadcast to homes, the State Director of Public Health can be

speaking to nurses in the field on sub-carrier channel A, Civil Defense

training can be provided to Civil Defense workers on sub-carrier channel B,

in-service training to teachers can be provided on sub-channel C, and

el, mentary or secondary schools can receive programs on sub-carrier chan-

nel D. It is technically possible to operate the five programing ser-

vices simultaneously on the FM frequency assignment. The costs involved

are very low. Such a multiplexed service is available to all listeners

with modified receivers who are within range of the broadcast signal.

In contrast the 2500 m/c ETV service can be received only at fixed points

with special antenna installations.

Thus Federal control of the radio spectrum has been used to promote

Statewide ETV broadcast networks, a policy which may be extended to non-

commercial FM radio shortly. In addition to broadcast services, private

institutional educational services, by both radio and television, can be

mounted which can provide for the distribution of multiple programs

14

simultaneously. It remains for State and local agencies to determine

how best to use these limited natural resources in the public interest.

As will be seen, State authorities are moving forward to exploit oppor-

tunities in educational television while taking little advantage of the

opportunities in educational radio which have been much less clearly and

forcefully presented to them.

Statewide ETV and Radio Networks

The Statewide network involves the placement and interconnection

of stations in such a way as to allow programs to be beamed to all.parts

of the State. This capacity can be enormously valuable to the many

public services that are directed or assisted at the State level.

State educational television network development began in 1955 with

the organization of the Alabama State ETV Network. In contrast to com-

mercial television, the State network is an important feature.in noncom-

mercial development. In operation or under construction are networks in

Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,

Arkansas, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, South Dakota,

Nebraska, Minnesota, Utah, and Oregon.

In South Carolina, for example, a central ETV studio in Columbia,

the capital city, produces and transmits materials. The production staff

of 45 persons includes artists, writers, teachers, librarians, television

producers, and television engineers. Currently 28 school subjects are

taught by ETV. In addition, regular Statewide continuing and professional

education has been provided for doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists,

lawyers, welfare caseworkers, law enforcement officers, and others.

15

Industrial supervisors and management personnel are assisted by ETV and

industrial skills have been taught. Not only is the ETV network seen

as related to the industrial development of the State, departments of

government use the facilities for in-service training, administrative

discourse, and public information.

The method used by South Carolina for distributing the materials

produced is unique. A six channel closed-circuit system provides access

to 700 school outlets interconnected,by leased lines and microwave in

the manner of a telephone system. One "at home" service is provided by

signals from ETV broadcast station transmitters. Statewide broadcast

coverage will be complete by the end of 1967.

Every State, in fact, is unique in the way it has applied ETV tech-

nology to its needs. Kentucky now has twelve transmitting stations

under construction which will be programed from five studios within the

State. The Alabama system has seven transmitting stations and three

studios, two provide cultural programs and higher education instruction

while a third studio provides public school instruction. In Utah, a

broadcasting station at the University has Torograms extended to the

State's population by translators or repeaters owned by local school

authorities. The Vermont and New Hampshire systems each program a num-

ber of transmitter stations from a single studio at the State University.

In Georgia, a State Department of Education production center produces

public school programs for six transmitter stations which, along with

the five stations under construction, will provide signal coverage over

the State; the University producing.station supplies the cultural and

higher education materials.

Federal policy has sought to provide incentives for State and local

agencies to work out their own formulations for ETV broadcast development.

16

The technical variety of the State ETV networks is as great as the variety

of patterns under which networks are administered. Currently, 44 States

have a formally designated State educational television authority.

There are a wide range of approaches to the coordination of ETV broad-

cast services.

In Alabama, the State ETV Commission manages the transmission

system while production facilities are controlled indepen-

dently by particular schools and universities.

In Georgia, the State Department of Education operates a State-

wide network, while the State University and the Atlanta Public

School System operate independent stations.

In Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, State universities oper-

ate the State networks.

In South Carolina, a State Commission operates and assists in

preparing courses for a Statewide closed-circuit system, and

broadcast service.

In Oregon, the body which coordinates higher education is the

ETV authority.

In California, an ETV Advisory Commission is housed in the

State agency for administration and finance.

In Kentucky, a State ETV Commission is currently constructing

a 12-station ETV netork which it will operate.

In Nebraska, a State ETV Commission makes policy while net-

work operating functions are delegated to the State University.

In Minnesota, a State network is developing under private

control and no State ETV authority exists.

In Maryland, the State Deparment of Education directs school

program planning while a State ETV Commission is responsible

for general audiences and cultural programing.

In New York and Pennsylvania, independent regional agencies

have been developed under State plans.

And, in a number of States, independent stations operate with-

out influence of State plan or advisory authority.

The development of educational television by the States is an out-

standing example of the creative variety and pluralism possible within

the Federal-State partnership.

17

There have been three pressures prominent in the growth of State

ETV networks. First, of course, has been the desire to equalize and

extend educational opportunity and improve quality. The need for insti-

tutions of higher education to share high cost instruction, the impor-

tance of providing improved and rounded curriculum for the students of

necessarily existent small schools, the shortage of trained teachers in

many subject areas, and the difficulty for even the best trained teachers

to keep abreast of rapidly expanding new knowledge, especially in the

sciences, all these have encouraged the construction of broadcast sta-

tions and television network systems. Growth of networking is marked

in areas with limited economic resources, in Upper New England and the

South, where it has been recognized that standards need improving yet

where the proportion of income going into education has been very high.

A second important pressure has been the drive for economic devel-

opment. A little over a year ago in the State of Mississippi, the insti-

tutions of higher education were doggedly searching for some way in

which to finance educational television. Today, a State network is

well on the road to realization. The ETV system is a product of the

State's drive for comprehensive economic development and the organized

effort to evaluate and effectively mobilize all the natural, physical,

economic and human resources of the State. Important elements in the

effort will be shared educational television and computer services.

The State ETV agency is an arm of the Mississippi Research and Develop-

ment Center designed to promote a total environment in the State condu-

cive to the orderly expansion of investment and employment opportunities

so as to assure balanced community growth.

18

Educational television has been conceived in many instances as pro-

viding needed assistance for the training of manpower and the upgrading

of educational and cultural opportunity to the end that industry would

be drawn into the State and economic growth encouraged. The view is

strongest in the South where organized efforts to attract industry are

well developed. The Southern Regional Education Board, an arm of the

Southern Governor's Conference, has been a major force behind ETV growth.

Statewide coverage by ETV signals should be complete in all of the Southern

States within two years. But economic programing is growing also in the

urban centers. In Pittsburgh, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Seattle, Milwaukee,

Chicago, and Houston, station schedules are being used increasingly by

private bu.siness for the training and continuing education vital to

effective industrial operations.

Third, and of equal importance, has been the pressure for cultural

opportunity. Community groups and individual citizens, often, from

sparsely populated areas, have looked to noncommercial television as a

channel for knowledge of the world and human affairs and as a way in

which great art, music, and drama can be brought to them. In its early

years educational television was often a disappointment in this respect,

but it has been gaining increased stature. Financial and technical

barriers continue to remain in the way of substantial amount of high

quality programs. However, there is a growing conviction nationally

that the increased resources required for greater excellence must be

found.

After the ETV system has been established additional pressures can

develop, it should be noted. Discovery grows that a noncommercial broad-

casting television service is of unique value--to public service agencies,

19

for example. Perhaps it begins to be used for training of professionals

or for direct services such as counseling parents of retarded children.

These uses in most public service areas must be termed experimental, how-

ever. This is not because programing is untried by agencies which are

outside the formal structure of education. Rather it is because State

agencies usually lack the know-how to effectively use the medium and have

still to pass through an apprenticeship before they will be able to

exploit it fully in behalf of the human needs they serve.

In contrast to ETV only one Statewide educational radio network

exists. Statewide educational radio coverage is provided in Wisconsin

by a network of 11 stations. However, there is a renewed interest in

State noncommercial radio networks sparked by the recent Federal Communi-

cations Commission proposal discussed above.

Why the contrast between television and radio network development?

ETV is the superior medium in the sense that it unites sight and sound

and, of course, receives more attention from an enthralled public. This

is not the only reason, however. Radio, a low-cost medium, can be fi-

nanced relatively easily out of institutional budgets. This includes

both initial construction and operations of facilities. Television is

much more costly, both for facilities and for operations. This forced

educational institutions into coordination and directed attention to

State government for support. In addition, television devourts spectrum

space. State planning was encouraged because of the fewer channel

assignments.

Yet when noncommercial radio is judged in terms of benefits as

they relate to costs, many opportunities for service can be seen for

radio networks given proper organization, leadership, and the creative

20

application of new technological opportunities. The rise of medical

radio networks is an example of the creative exploitation of some of radio's

unique capacities. WAMC, the Albany Medical College Station (Albany,

New York) provides a two-way radio conference network which uses faculties

from 17 medical colleges to direct instruction to participating groups

in 60 hospitals. The network covers 100,000 square miles and includes

major portions of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and

Vermont. Similar networks are now used by the Pennsylvania Hospital in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the University of North Carolina School of

Medicine, the University of Utah College of Medicine, the San Franclsco

Medical College of the University of California, and the Ohio State

College of Medicine.

The use of multiplexing gives to radio broadcasting a unique capacity

for administrative services which cannot be duplicated by any other

medium. It will require time for an appreciation of the potential of

this relatively new development to sink in. This is especially true

because the kind of work multiplexing can accomplish is far different

from that which the noncommercial broadcaster has previously performed

or is trained to consider as part of his function.

Federal Support of Research and Development

Congress has been very conscious of the importance of preserving State

and local initiative in programs related to education. This has been

especially true when educational television is involved.

The first use of Federal support for the development of the new

electronic media was under the National Defense Education Act of 1958

(P.L. 88-665). Under Title VII of the Act, funds were made available

21

to State and local educational entities for research and demonstrations

in the use of "newer educational media." Funds were provided to develop

new knowledge as to the use of such mediums as television and radio and

to make this knowledge available to local decision makers.

Title VII has been important in the search for solutions to some

of the problems of educational television as it grew. Improvement in

program distribution machinery was needed. As broadcast television

began, commercial stations were almost immediately supported in their

programing by the powerful production and distributiOn system already

in operation for radio. Educational stations were Largely without

established material distribution systems. Under Title VII the establish-

ment and pilot operation of a national instructional tape library, was

supported. New regional libraries of instructional materials were field

tested. One of these, serving the Great Plains region, is today located

at the University of Nebraska and the other serving the Northeastern

region is administered by the Eastern Educational Network, Boston,

There was and continues to be evidence of a serious shortage of the

ETV personnel, particularly at the management and engineering levels.

The report of a survey of personnel in educational television, prepared

by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters under a Title VII

contract, identified the pool of manpower currently available and pointed

to a growing shortage of personnel. The adequacy of professional training

curriculums has been questioned. Two contracts awarded, one to the

University of Pittsburgh and the other to Alameda County (California)

State College were designed to formulate guidelines for the training of

educational media specialists, including ETV personnel. It was and con-

tinues to be clear that new techniques and sources of operating finaacing

Apo..

n,:ed to be de7eloped. Two conferences supported under Title VII, one at

Pr,,ndeis nniversity in 1963 and second at Washington in 1964, explored

tho problem.

Title VII also supported a substantial number of studies seeking to

measure tbe effectiveness of educational television as a medium for

instruction. Additional investigations have been supported by the Pub-

lic Health Service and the Department of Defense. The major private

contributor to the body of knowledge about ETV is the Ford Foundation,

with over $100,000,000 invested to date. Many other non-profit founda-

tions have made important contributions.

In all, over 400 comparative studies have been made. Generaliza-

tions supportee f7-om research and demonstration findings include these:

(1) Television can effectively teach a wide variety of subjectsto stu-

dents at every grade level. (2) Television is an effective means for

expanding educational opportunity in a variety of situations. (3) Tele-

vision effectiveness for education is influenced by and dependent on

many factors including receiving environment, viewer preparation, and

follow-up activities. Television is not a panacea. But television caa

often be of assistance in meeting important community objectives.

As a result of completed research and demonstration, the cfuestion

is no longer, "Can television be used for oJucational purposes?" Rmther

the questions are, '"Vhen, how, and for what objectives should the medium

be used?"

Federal Support of Broadcast Facilities

Men under the EducTtional Television Facilities Act (P.L 87-447),

signed May 1, 1962, Federal funding was made available for the construction

23

of educational television broaecasting stations, Congress made certain

that there should be no involvement by the Federal government in

programing.

"Federal Interference or Control Prohibited

Sec. 397. Nothing in this part shall be deemed...to authorize

any department, agen4, officer, or employee of the

United States to exercise any direction, supervision,

or control over educational television broadcasting

or over the curriculum, program of instruction, or

personnel of any educational institution, school

system, or educational broadcasting station or

system." -V

Under the Act matching funds are provided to assist in construction of

new noncommercial television broadcasting stations or the expansion of

existing stations. Matching grants, up to fifty per cent of the project

cost (or up to seventy-five per cent under particular circumstances) are

for the acquisition and installation of transmission apparatus. Over

$12 million was obligated in FY 1966.

A statutory limitation of $1 million was established on the amount

of the $32 million authorized which could be distributed within a State.

States in which the maximum had been granted by the end of 1966 were

Alabama, California, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Illinois,

4/Minnesota, South Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Nebraska,-and Washington.

3/ Educational Television Facilities Act, Public Law 87-447.

1/ Grant approvals under P.L. 87-447 within Minnesota include: Duluth-

Superior Area Educational Television Corporation--Activation of Chan-

nel 8 (December 9, 1963), $212,625; Twin City Area Educational Tele-

vision Corporation--Activation of Channel 17 - St. Paul (June 20,

1964), $154,255; Twin City Area Educational Television Corporation--

Activation of Channel 10 - Appleton (September 4, 1965), $168,719; Twin

City Area Educational Television Corporation--Expansion of Channel 2 -

Minneapolis-St. Paul (June 16, 1966), $363,986. Application is currently

pending from Duluth-Superior Area Educational Television Corporation--

Expansion of Channel 8, $101,145.

24

Total ETV broadcast equipment investment in the United States has

been estimated at $80 million. The provision of an ETV signal to approxi-

mately 95 per cent of the population within each of the States will

require an estimated capital investment of between $350 to $400 million

depending on the character of the State system developed.

The Carnegie Commission on Educational Television is expected to

report in early 1967 with recommendations for improvement and expansion

of ETV broadcasting. This report is being awaited with great interest.

The object of the current Act is to provide for facilities which

would "serve the largest number of persons and serve them in as many

areas as possible, and which are adaptable to the broadest educational

uses., By early 1967 all but three States--Alaska, Montana, Wyoming--

will have under construction ETV broadcast facilities with the help of

Federal grants. When the Act was signed, 63 stations were in operation;

with the completion of supported construction over 175 stations are

expected to be broadcasting. Today, ETV coverage has been extended to

included a minimum of 140 million people, of which at least 40 million

have ETV broadcasting newly available as a result of grant supported

projects. An additional 5 million school children are having some part

of their instruction supplied by television as a result of Federally

assisted construction. In short, the Act is accomplishing what it was

designed to accomplish within thc funds authorized.

SOsequent to passa.je of the Educational Telcvision Facilities Act,

additional school and college legislation has provided opportunity for

funding of ! Y facilities. However, this support has fo'..:.sed on the

5/Educational Television Facilities Act, Public Law 37-447.

25

development of institutional needs and institutional communication ser-

vices rather than broadcast services.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 provides funds to institutions

of higher education for closed-circuit or Instructional Television Fixed

Service (2500 m/c) equipment. Determinations as to the distribution of

funds within a State are made by appropriate State authorities. A total

of $1.5 million was made available for equipment in FY 1966.

Under Titles I and III of the Elementary and Secondary Education

Act of 1965 closed-circuit and 2500 m/c equipment may be funded if they

meet the objective of the Act. Under Title I, support is provided for

projects to assist culturally deprived children. Determinations are made

by the State authorities. Although the program is concerned primarily

with the support of educational activities, some equipment has been

included in supported projects. Closed-circuit and 2500 m/c systems

have been funded for this educational purpose. An estimated $20 million

went into television projects in FY 1966. Under Title III, radio and

television equipment and programs may be supported. However, current

policy frowns on funding construction of facilities. Rather than "brick

and mortar" or "hardware" purchases, emphasis is placed on operating

activities which directly involve students.

Federal Funding of Innovation and Improvement

During the last two years a wide variety of support programs designed

to improve professional training and services to the public have ftinded

projects using educational television. While Title VII, NDEA was designed

to encourage study of new media techniques, the purpose of projects

funded under the various service programs is to encourage greater

26

effectiveness in providing particular public services. Within the Depart-

ment of Health, Education, and Welfare, programs have used ETV which are

administered by the Public Health Service, the Office on Aging, the

Vocational Rehabilitation Administration and the Welfare Administration.

Other agencies such as the Small Business Administration, the Department

of Justice and the Department of Agriculture have also assisted projects

utilizing educational television communications.

Almost every public service has a number of comparable unsolved

problems: the limited number of trained professionals, a greatly

increased body of knowledge, an increased need and demand for services,

and an increased emphasis on public self-reliance assisted by sound

public information.

Noncommercial broadcasting has important potential for the solution

of these problems. It can serve basic individual needs. It can provide

mental health information, assist employment opportunity, distribute

programs to combat social problems auch as alcoholism, juvenile delin-

quency, illiteracy, as well as programs to prepare people for problems

of age and make life adjustment after 65 easier; and it can make avail-

able sound nutritional and preventive medical information. Educatipnal

television and educational radio can also be used to improve the effective-

ness of public services. It can train nurses, doctors, police and other

professionals. It can provide needed public information about our com-

munity; a high level of public cooperation and awareness is needed if

programs in Civil Defense, air and water pollution, and community health

are to pay dividends. Finally, ETV can assist in strevlening economic

resources through improved skills in business, farming, homemaking and

the professions.

27

However, professionals--the welfare caseworker, the rehabilitation

worker, the public health specialist--have not learned to any great

extent how to effectively use the newer techniques. The media specialist

furthermore lacks familiarity with the needs and purposes of programs

in welfare, Civil Defense, agriculture, and commerce. As a result, we

are now in a period of trial and error in which specialists are seeking

ways to blend their talents.

There is an array of Federal programs designed to improve existing

professional services. These are helping professionals become familiar

with the newer media and are accelerating the rate at which ETV will be

put to work. The selected examples of funded projects which follow

demonstrate the wide range of professions and areas of service now explor-

ing the use of television.

A series of television programs to educate the public on the

complicated nature of mental illness and roads to recovery

has received Federal support. Films will describe mis-conceptions about mental illness, changing methods of treat-

ment, intensive hospital treatment, the half-way house, day

care program, and sheltered workshops. (Chicago Educational

Television Association, Chicago, Illinois)

A funded demonstration seeks to use television programingto assist older persons in living a more complete and

satisfying life. It calls for broad community participationto assist in providing information most useful to older

Americans as well as satisfying cultural entertainment.(South Central Uucational Broadcasting Council, Hershey,

Pennsylvania)

A funded project provided in-service training of welfare

caseworkers by means of a Statewide television network. A

feature was the use of trained teachers, not available in

the State served by the programs, who were staff members

of a major University in a nearby State. (South Carolina

ETV Center and State Family Services Agency, Columbia,

South Carolina)

28

A closed-circuit television connection between a University

Medical Center Psychiatric Institute and a semi-isolated State

mental hospital is being supported, demonstrating ETV used

to provide improved patient diagnosis and treatment, to

facilitate research, to improve training of professionals,

and to provide special services to patients and their families.

An example of the latter are the visitations by means of

television between patients and family members separated by

many miles. (Nebraska Psychiatric Institute, University of

Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska)

A series of one-hour instructional programs and appropriate

materials to train food handlers were supported by grant.

Food poisoning effects millions of persons each year, resulting

in an unnecessary economic drain. A Statewide television

network was used to train food handlers in sanitation

practices recommended by the Public Health Service. (South

Carolina State Iloard of Health and South Carolina State ETV

Center, Columbia, South Carolina)

A study was made into the efficiency and effectiveness of

using broadcast television in a national program of postgraduate

medical education. A test system including several medical

institutions and educational television stations was established

for evaluation. Study was focused on: effective instructional

materials, learning motivate techniques, active versus passive

participation while learning, and concentrated versus spaced

television presentations. (University of California, San

Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, California)

Programs were funded to combat the many stereotyped attitudes

about mental illness and its treatment still prevalent today.

The special television series on the substantive research in

mental health was designed to give the layman greater insight

into human behavior. In addition, the programs sought to

apprise professionals in mental health and related fields as

to some of their colleagues' newest approaches. Through

educational television information current knowledge on the

potential for future advances was to be provided to lay and

professional viewers. (National Educational Television, New

York, New York)

An effort was funded in which television techniques were to be

studied to reduce the gap between available medical knowledge and

its application in practices. Television has the potential of

reaching the 80 per cent of physicians who do not take part in

established postgraduate educational programs. ETV facilities

are available anc . cm reach 90 per cent of the physicians of

Maine. Using television programs augmented by live question

and answer periods using telephone trunk lines, the medical

talents of a major urban center were used to provide service to

a sparsely populated State. (Bingham Associates Fund in cooper-

ation with Massachusetts Medical Society, Maine Department of

Public Health, and WGBH, Boston)

29

Educational television broadcasting was to be used in an effort

to assist in increasing employment opportunity for low employ-

ment groups. A project was funded to develop ETV programs

for the dual purpose of teaching the English language and

offering vocational education to Latin American members of a

major urban area. Production techniques to attract and hold

the target audience, principally teen-agers and young adults, but

including the entire family group, were to be examined. Programs

were to explain vocational procedures and working conditions.

Potential jobs were to be presented as goals within reach of the

viewer. The project was to be evolved with the cooperation of

employers, schools, unions, ethnic newspapers and organizations,

and welfare and social agencies. (Bay Area Educational Tele-

vision Association, San Francisco, California)

The preparation of a series of television programs was funded

to provide job information and occupational guidance for students

and prospective students of vocational education. A principal

purpose was to inform disadvantaged minority groups of new and

varied career opportunities now possible in representative

businesses. (San Bernardino Valley College, San Bernardino,

California)

Funds were provided for the development of television lessons

in pre-service and initial in-service training for vocational

teachers. The feasibility of presenting training by means of

television to the 24 area vocational schools in a State was to

be examined. (Minnesota State Department of Education,

Division of Vocational Education, St. Paul, Minnesota)

The utility of educational television as a means for raising

levels of awareness and information among selected disadvantaged

populations in specific areas of health, social service,

employment, and family finance was to be studied through a

funded project. A sample of disadvantaged families residing

in public housing developments was to be selected and their

responses to particular teleVision programs measured.

(University of Denver, Denver, Colorado)

Television as a teaching medium was to be used in an approved

project to counteract some nursing educational problems in a

State with large area and low population. Television video

tapes were to be utilized to extend instructions by well

qualified faculty on a University campus to students located in

campuses 150-200 miles distance. (Montana State University,

School of Nursing, Bozeman, Montana)

A history of nursing series, under an approved project, was to

be shared through television by four schools of nursing.

Additional schools outside the area of the ETV broadcast signal

were to have kinescopes available to them. (St. Barnabus

Hospital, School of Nursing, Minneapolis, Minnesota)

30

Funds were provided to link 18 metropolitan schools of nursing

by means of telecast courses including "Legal Aspects of

Nursing," "Current Trends in Nursing" and "Growth and Develop-

ment." (Evanston Hospital, School of Nursing, Evanston,

Illinois)

A project was funded to improve a program for graduate nurses,

by exploring the effects of substituting remote control live

television observations of nursing situations for the tradi-

tional clinical experiences. (Los Angeles State College,

Department of Nursing, Los Angeles, California)

To adjust to increasing enrollments a funded project sought

to develop equally good or better television techniques for

teaching large groups in a course traditionally taught in

small lecture-demonstration classes. (University of Washington,

Seattle, Washington)

An ETV series was funded to inform large numbers of people as,to

the nature of alcoholism, and thereby assist in combating it and

reducing its drain on productivity. These programs were

directed not only to alcoholics but to those who are associated

with persons who are alcoholics and to the general public that

may someday have to deal with the problem. (Chicago Educational

Television Association, Chicago, Illinois)

In the process of funding projects involving new uses for educational

television, there will be failures as well as successes. Some uses will

attract attention, be imitated, modified, and grow in importance. Others

may never be heard from again.

State, regional, and local institutions, in partnership with Federal

agencies, have been involved in ETV demonstrations for less than a decade.

Thus far, private sources have provided the greatest share of dollars for

demonstrations projects. However, the last two years has seen a great

increase in the Federal support of State and local ETV projects. This

trend will probably continue as greater experience develops under the new

programs and as interest in ETV expands.

State Telecommunication Planning

The growth in the variety of available communication services and in

a complex society's demand for these services is bringing before more and

31

more States questions of planning and coordination. The reactions by States

are not uniform and in only a few cases has a comprehensive attack on the

problem been made. However, recognition of the problem is increasing.

There are both technical and functional reasons for the emergence of

State telecommunication planning efforts. On the technical side, the

interconnection of locations, either by leased common carrier services

or by user-owned microwave systems, is costly. Utilization of such

facilities for more than one purpose usually can provide for more eco-

nomical communications as well as increased reliability of the service

through shared operating costs.

An example is the joint use of interconnection facilities by ETV

and by computer services. The "interdependence of computer and communi-

cation services and facilities" has caused the Federal Communications

Commission to give special attention to regulation and policy questions

which may arise from what the Commission has termed "the growing con-

vergence of computers and communication." .Y

In at least one State telecommunication planning study, this one for

the Governor's State Communications Committee of South Dakota, the con-

sulting engineers recommended cooperative development of interconnection

facilities for educational television and data processing services.

The engineering report notes that the amount spent by the State for data

processing rental, if invested in a centrally located data processing

center, could provide all State agencies with facilities available to

only 1 of 127 South Dakota aeencies. However, such a data processing

system would require a conmunication system between the central location

6/-- "Regulatory and Policy Problems Presented by the Interdependence of

Computer and Communication Services and Facilities." (FCC Docket

No. 16979)

AMOIMMONI.ismallfro.++,-.--

32

and outlying users. South Dakota's previously commissioned educational

television network study proposed to interconnect educational television

stations over the State. "In order to obtain the greatest economic

efficiency for a microwave system," the engineers' report states, "It is

necessary to carry as much information, communication, and data as possible.

Statewide coordination between department and agencies is mandatory if

costs are to be kept in bounds...Interconnection by microwave of the

educational productional production and transmitting centers can be

accomplished sooner and at less cost if a cooperative effort is made to

meet the needs of State radio and data processing requirements." 2/

In another study, this one supported under Title VII, NDEA, the

establishment of multi-purpose electronic interconnection service was

examined involving groups of colleges and universities, among them the

Big Ten institutions. In the latter case a common use of interconnection

facilities by the many departments and agencies of these institutions

was recommended. The system would be capable of serving a variety of

terminal equipment including facsimile, slow-scan television, telephone

with assorted devices, radio, teletype and also, under certain arrange-

ments, core-to-core computer transmissions and broadcast quality tele-

8/vision service.

In addition to cost factors, cooperative utilization of communica-

tion facilities may often assure the availability of a broader range of

communication services than would be possible under a single agency ser-

vice. The opportunity can exist for closer tailoring to the needs of

7/ Communication System Planning for the State of South Dakota (1965)

pp. 25, 27, 30.

8/ Educational Communications Systems: Phase III, National Association

of Educational Broadcasters, Washington, D. C. (October 1966)

33

health education, and community agencies. This is not inevitable, how-

ever. Much depends on the quality of telecommunication planning--the

recognition given to the unique requirements of special services in the

course of it--and the effectiveness of continuing management. Many

agencies uncertain of the quality of a joint user system not under their

direct control, are fearful that service will not be reliable or suited

to needs and, therefore, prefer to operate agency controlled "one horse"

systems whatever the limitations.

However, growing demand for service, growing sophistication of

equipment and mounting costs will make increasingly essential the overt

and sustained attention by States to the coordinated development of

communication services.--An example of what lack of planning can mean in

cost to the taxpayer is in the failure by States to use currently avail-

able telephone rate advantages. A recent review of leased facilities

found that 27 States are contracting for services at a commercial rate

averaging approximately $4.00 per month for voice channel mile, while

19 States utilize State Telpak arrangements at costs which average between

$1.00 to $1.50 per month and 12 States utilize Federal Telpak rates aver-

aging 45 cents per month for voice channel mile.

In the long run much more important than poor purchasing of leased

services is the go-it-alone practice of State agencies when developing

and operating their own systems. Experience has shown that common user

systems (joint use of a communication system by many agencies) are gen-

erally more effective and less costly. In the proliferation of indepen-

dent dedicated systems there are the dangers of under utilization, lack

of versatility and responsiveness, and an incompatability of systems

one with the other.

The Director of Telecommunication Management in the Executive Office

of the President has provided advisory assistance to States preparing

plans for communication services. State action is being sparked from

several quarters. There is the demand for educational television. Also

in the forefront are needs for reliable and responsive communication

systems in time of natural or nuclear disaster and for improved report

systems in law enforcement. In addition, there is the growth of library

and information retrieval functions for business, education, and the

professions, the increased importance attached to health information and

the need for effective report systems in the control of disease, and

the rise in communications requirements, generally, in the administration

of increasingly large enterprises.

As a result of such pressures Federal programs are contributing to

State problem solving efforts. State and local agencies are exploring

or using a variety of resources. (1) The Office of Civil Defense can

provide matching funds for capital costs of communications systems which

will enhance the capability for State and local government agencies to

carry out their defined Civil Defense emergency responsibilities.

(2) The State Technical Services Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-182) can support

State and inter-State efforts that enable businesses, commerce, and indus-

try to acquire and use scientific and engineering information more effec-

tively. The Act suggests such means as the dissemination of recorded

technical information and the use of computers and communication links is

receiving major attention in these efforts. (3) The substantial number

of Federal Acts supporting extension and improvement of library services

are encouraging greater coordination between the interconnection of

35

9libraries and increased attention to automation and computer application. --

/

Thus far, applications of cummunication technology to library administra-

tion has been more a matter of projection than of fact. Nevertheless,

there is no question that the information explosion demands greater shar-

ing of services, centralization of resources, and with it improved com-

munication systems. Increased resources are available to meet these

goals. (4) There is an expanding interest in improved medical communica-

tion and information retrieval to meet the ever greater opportunity for

improved health services. Planning and demonstrations have been funded

for systems to meet a wide range of health improvement objectives.

(5) Finally, there are the many new educational programs, discussed here

at several points, which have authority to provide for communication plan-

ning for particular educational purposes.

It is true that the objectives for which funds are appropriated do

not allow for the total support of comprehensive planning by States of

communication facilities. Yet experience shows that where there is

creative and dynamic State leadership, backed by State funds appropriated

for telecommunication planning, the added support available from these

Federal sources can be very beneficial.

Approximately one-half of the States have taken steps which grow

out of an awareness of developing communication problems. States which

Federal support for libraries is available from a great variety ofsources to meet special objects. Legislation includes: Elementaryand Secondary Education Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-10); Library Services and

Construction Act (P.L. 88-269); National Defense Education Act-Title II(P.L. 88-665); Vocational Education Act of 1963 (P.L. 88-210); HigherEducation Facilities Act o11963 (P.L. 88-204); Higher Education Actof 1965-Title II (P.L. 89-329). Special libraries are assisted underthe Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965 (P.L. 89.-291) and the StateTechnical Services Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-182).

36

have undertaken major studies aimed at the coordination of communication

facilities include: California, New York, Nebraska, South Dakota, South

Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

In general, the problem calls for (1) a survey of present public

services and future public needs for services, (2) a survey of existing

facilities and plans for expansion, (3) an analysis of needed changes, and

(4) a plan for continuing attack on the problem.

In reality each of the telecommunication planning efforts are repre-

sentative of the special pressures and individual leadership within the

State. Planning objectives have often been limited, of necessity, because

of the purposes for which funds used were appropriated. The creative

force behind them have been the State ETV program, the Civil Defense pro-

gram or the State Office for Adminstration, usually in combination.

Every State, of course lias its unique problems and no two States

will approach communication planning the same way. Nor will any two States

come up with the same solutions. However, in order to illustrate the

comprehensive character of the planning involved, the initial efforts of

a typical Midwestern State, Nebraska, will be described.

Nebraska included for consideration all types of communication ser-

vices. Governor Frank B. Morrison stated at the time a State Committee

was activated, "Technical development available to meet our future require-

ments for radio, teletype, facsimile, telemetry, closed-circuit TV and

other communications means presents us with a real challenge'in meeting

our extensive requirements for day-to-day operations, as well as assuring

10/effective and coordinated communications in times of emergency."

10/ .4

Communications for Nebraska State Government. A survey and report

concerned with feasibility of a Statewide communications networkincluding system concept and design parameters. (November 12, 1965)

p. i.

37

A Nebraska State Government Consolidated Communication Committee was

activated. Every major department of government was represented in the

planning.

When the Consolidated Communication Committee surveyed their existing

Statewide communication systems they found the following services operating

side by side:

Safety Patrol: a two-way radio communication system consistingof multiple main stations located throughout the State requiringthe operation of 28 separate transmitting sites as well as 247mobile units in service.

Department of Roads: a two-way radio system operating throughoutthe State from eight divisional office headquarters and from themain headquarters in Lincoln. The service involves operation of21 separate transmitting sites and 183 mobile units.

State Public Power: a two-way radio system involving 62 basestations, 21 separate transmitting sites, and 245 mobile units.

Game, Forestation and Parks Commission: a Statewide system ofVHF mobile repeater and control stations with 15 separatetransmitting sites and 118 mobile units.

National Guard: a VHF radio system on military frequencieswith transmissions from 29 national guard installations andutilizing 148 vehicle mounted radios.

Civil Defense and Sheriffs Network: the 84 county sheriffshave base radio stations and 181 mobile radios are involved.

National Communications Systems; Military bases and FederalAgency Field Forces are linked together by wire and radio.

Educational Television: a nearly complete Statewide broadcastnetwork involves six ETV sityions and a number of supportingtranslators or repeaters.

When a study was made of the future requirements of the State agencies

it was concluded by the independent engineering firm retained by the

Nebraska Committee that necessary services "could well exceed $15 million

if developed by and for the use of the individual agencies...In all

11Op. Cit. pp. 15-17.

58

probability, the expressed needs would never be fully developed for rea-

sons of prohibited costs on a Department 'go-it-alone' basis. On the

other hand, one can be sure that many of the services will be individually

12/developed and funded for reasons of forced requirements in the future."

Engineering council further concluded, "If facilities are established

on a 'joint use' basis, it is within reason to assume that funds now being

used and projected for communication services could provide for these

13/necessary services if properly consolidated and programed."

The Nebraska study is one kind of comprehensive examination of a

State communication problem. It is not presented here as a recommenda-

tion, for each State will have a unique combination of considerations--

terrain, needed services, administrative structure, and individual

leadership.

Coordinated planning of State communication services does not need

to mean centralized operation. In all probability it will not mean that

It will not do away with independent communication systems where impor-

tant functions are served by separation. Thus far efforts at coordination

have tended to focus on an electronic "backbone' within the State for

long distance transmission, designed to serve many agencies and a variety

of communication tools. The backbone system should increase the opportunity

for a public service to develop the communication system most suited to

its needs.

Any planning effort will fall far short of its effectiveness if it

fails to consider and allow for the uniqueness found in each form of

communication. The unique character of broadcasting has been stressed,

its ability for all practical purposes to provide programs anywhere within

12/Op. Cit. 22.

13/Op. Cit. p. 22

39

range of its signal and the limits which the radio spectrum places on

ultimate growth. This uniqueness has been recognized by the States in

the independence they have given to the development of ETV through a

variety of commissions and authorities. It has been overlooked, however,

in the case of radio broadcasting which has not, with the one exception,

been utilized by the States.

Effective State planning cannot proceed in isolation if it is to

bring the return it should. There is a growing amount of planning look-

ing toward the development over the next decade of a number of kinds of

specialized regional and national communication networks or institutional

interconnections. The interconnection of medical centers by means of

satellite has been suggested. A number of projects are under way look-

ing to the national interconnection of libraries for services in particular

subject areas. A State transmission service, properly conceived, could

extend generally over a State the resources of new national information

systems that might otherwise be available to only one location within the

State.

Communication systems are rapidiy changing. This change is likely

to accelerate rather than slow down. A plan or a study is not enough

although it can be a good opening attack on the problem. Effective plan-

ning and management of the communication needs of a large an enterprise

as a State will require continuing direction at a high administrative

level. The technology, the State administrative framework, the service

requirements, the individuals involved will change over the years.

Expertize must be available in some depth. Leadership functions need

to extend beyond the creation of communication systems to the stimulatory

efforts required to assure effective and efficient utilization of these

systems by public agencies.

40

Unfortunately the communication problem in State government has all

too often been considered as a routine housekeeping function largely

built around the assurance of uninterrupted telephone service.

While the States are beginning to undertake comprehensive telecom-

munication planning there are the usual administrative and human problems.

The task will become increasingly important and worthy of effort. On on,a

hand if poorly planned and used, communication systems can reinforce

inefficient government and fail to contribute to contribute to greater

excellence of services. On the other hand, well-planned telecommunica-

tion systems intelligently used can enormously increase the effectiveness

and efficiency of government services; they improve educational quality

and opportunity and contribute to the economic development of a State.

The States which take seriously the opportunities provided by communication

technology and seek to exploit them will be amply rewarded with a better

life for their citizens.

CONCLUSION

Over the last decade educational television broadcasting has become

an established institution in the United States. Facilities have been

developed generally over the country initiated by State, local, and pri-

vate agencies using financial assistance from the Federal government.

The Statewide ETV broadcast network is emerging as an important institu-

tional structure.

Federal assistance since 1958 for research and demonstration projects

in educational television has increased knowledge as to the effectiveness

of television for educational purposes. In the last three years tele-

vision techniques have been supported by a number of health, education,

41

and community programs which provided assistance for improvements in pro-

fessional training and for the development of more effective methods of

public service. These funds have not been used to construct facilities,

except incidentally, but have flowed where facilities already exist.

Educational television broadcasting has become an important part of

the growing interest at the State level in coordinated development of

communication systems. While the movement is in its early stages it

appears that it will grow. States which aggressively plan for and exploit

the new communication resources will assure a better life and greater

opportunity for their citizens.